A Little Too much Preparation
A little too much endearment.
I stood before the tan-coloured sofa, unnerved and out of ideas. The friend stood facing me a few feet ahead, readying the smartphone to take my picture.
I swiftly swept my dress with my hands to suppress the bumps and creases. I ran my fingers through my hair to put them in place, a few strands here and a few there. I checked my reflection in the glass window and twirled and twisted. Then, I glanced around for the props — a sofa beside an artificial tree. While twisting and twirling and straightening dresses and hair, I wondered if I should sit on the sofa or stand near the green tree. I thought if I should sit, then should I keep my legs crossed? I thought if I should stand, then where will my hands go, and what will they do? All free in the air and around me, how are they supposed to coordinate with me?
I wanted to think and prepare and straighten up more, but the friend was ready. So, I stood near the sofa and let the hands have free reign.
After the friend tapped the phone screen several times, I rushed towards them to examine the pictures. One glance at the photos and I sighed deeply and disappointingly. The eyes were droopy in some and closed in others. My smile was inverted U-shaped in some and absent in others. If not these, then there was the double chin, which found a perfect way to prominently surface along with other unwanted protrusions. And let’s not talk about the hands and hair. They took the free reign a little too seriously.
When I looked up from the phone, my friend’s face brightened, and they excitedly exclaimed that the result of their artistic skills (the photos) was excellent. I shot a look at them, trying to show my disappointment. Although, I ended up smiling, seeing their sincere and adorable admiration for the pictures with inverted smiles, fatty cheeks, and weirdly positioned hands.
I innocently enquired if they felt anything was wrong with the photos. The friend replied in question. “What’s wrong with them? You look so nice!” I grinned at their endearment and said, “You always like all my pictures.” I then asked them to send the pictures and set thoughts over my imperfections aside for a moment.
